Waterproof material



(No Model.)

F. L. BORWELL. WATERPROOF MATERIAL.

No. 596,842. Patented Jan. 4,1898.

UNITED STATES PATENT FRANK L. BORNVELL, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

WATERPROOF MATERIAL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 596,842, dated January 4, 1898.

Application led June 22, 1896. Serial No. 596,533. (No specimens.)

To @ZZ whom zit may concern..-

Be it known that I, FRANK L. BORWELL, of Chicago, in the State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Wraterproof Material, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to Waterproof material for garments or coverings.

The object is to produce a waterproof material which shall be comparatively soft and pliant and at once warm, of superior strength, and withal of comparative cheapness.

Heretofore waterproof material has been formed. of two layers of closely-woven fabric of the saine or of different kinds, with an interposed layer of guttapercha or india-rubber, the whole being cemented together by heating the gutta-percha or rubber or vulcanizing the same while interposed; but the article consisting of these closely-woven fabrics with the interposed gutta-percha or rubber is stiff and harsh and, While serving well as a mere rain-proof material, is wanting in warmth and comfort and the ease to a wearer of pliability and in cold weather, with rubber, becomes almost as unbending as a sheet of metal, and is then liable to cracking or ready perforation, all with discomfort to the user.

The ,invention consists in the waterproof material substantially as hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, and in which like letters of reference indicate corresponding parts, Figure l is a view in perspective, showing a fragment of my waterproof material with the inner or iiuify side exposed to view, the layers at one corner being separated to illustrate their relation. Fig. 2 is a View in section, showing the relation of the parts inl the operation of being united and Fig. 3 is a view in perspective, showing the iinished article, the outer side being exposed to View.

Great difficulty has heretofore been experienced in producing a waterproof material suitable for wear and outdoor use which would combine, with its quality of shedding water, the advantages of softness and pliability wi th warmth and conformation to movements of the body. 'Vhen two closely-woven fabrics are united by an. interposed layer of indiatexture.

rubber or its equivalent, the softening or vulcanizing of the rubber to cause the two fabrics to adhere seems to run the rubber into the interstices of the closely-woven fabrics in such manner as, while practically making them one material, to render them stiff and harsh, this characteristic being particularly noticeable in cold weather, a material made of the fabric described being not only non-pliant, and thus very cumbersome, but lacking in warmth. There two closely-woven textile fabrics are united in the manner described, the juxtaposition of the longitudinal strands with each other and of the crossstrands with each other would by itself alone serve to make a material composed of the two fabrics just twice as stiff as a piece of single fabric even wi thout the interposed rubber, while the rubber then surrounding and uniting strands in juxtaposition into one causes additional stiffness. Even where the strands of one of the textile fabrics would register with interstices in another of the same kind the stiffness would be equally increased by the close agglutination of the strands of the two fabrics into a continuous sheet or mass, the same or different fabrics being of substantially the same closeness of Besides closelywoven fabric is generally more expensive than a fabric that is loosely Woven, and it is a desideratum to make garments that shall not only be waterproof, pliant, and warm, as heretofore set forth, but which shall also be cheap for the use of truckmen, car-drivers, sailors, general laborers, and such, and that can be worn as an outer garment at times other than when it is rainingthat is to say, which will present a general outer garment.

To make my material, I may take any suitable comparatively thin fabric for an outer layer and any suitable soft and fluffy fabric for an inner layer or lining and, having interposed between these layers a sheet of pure gutta-percha, unite them, as illustrated in the accompanying drawings; but I prefer to take for the outer layer cotton, duck and for the inner layer or lini'gfcttnbiwoolen shoddy,

'a fibrous materialbbtainedby tearing into fibers refuse woolen goods, dro., this material being soft, flexible, and warm, and at once very cheap. The term shoddy is intended to include the sWeepin gs or waste from cotton or Woolen mills or any light textile refuse fibrous material, and may be applied to the duck either in mass or in the form of loosely- Woven weak blanketing or blanket, com-V monly known in the trade as a liningj and having no utility except for use in conjunction With a cloth covering. IIeretofore such blanketing has been exclusively used with duck and oil-cloth for teamsters storm-coats, horse-blankets, or lap-robes of a loW grade, the layers being united in the garment by sewing the patterns together, and the greater portion of the oost of produoingsueh articles consists in the labor required in cutting and placing together the patterns preparatory to Sewing them. Then so made up, the lining is supported principally at the seams and is liable to sag or part between the seams; but

when united as I propose the fabricfcan bey out and handled as one piece and the lining yis supported at all points of its area, so that it cannot sag or part between seams and the durability or Wear of the lining is greatly increased, enabling a better garment of the class to be made for less oost than heretofore.

Referring to the drawings, A designates the thin outer layer of cotton duck, B the thick inner layer or lining of Woolen or cotton shoddy, and C rthe layer of pure guttapercha. The parts thus arranged are united by the application vof heat at a temperature of about 100o to 130 Fahrenheit and by pressure, which causes the duck and shoddy to be united by the guttapereha. The heat and pressure may be applied by means of the rollers D D, heated to the requisite temperature.V The article thus formed is impervious to rain and is flexible, soft, and spongy, the gutta-percha not adding stiffness to the d uck and the shoddy lining being easily compressible in handling or folding, so that such arti cle, though Waterproof, has the capability or' being folded, cut, served, handled, and Worn to the same extent as any single layer of non Waterproof cotton or Woolen goods of like material and similar thickness or Weight and does not have the appearance of being Waterproof and may be Worn reversed.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

A Waterproof material composed of an outer layer of duek, an inner layer of shoddy lining, and an interposed layer of adhesive substance, sueh as gutta-pereha, substantially as and for the purpose described.

` FRANK L. BORVVELL. \Vitnesses:

ANNIE M. ADAMs, ELLIS LEvY. 

